Thirty years after death, Rudolph Charles remains... The Baddest Desperado

by Dalton Narine

Global- Thirty years ago today, Laventille’s Rudolph Charles shuffled off this mortal coil and went out in style - a glam funeral service, his soul encased in the Chariot pans he invented and three religions vying for meager props at his rites on the banks of the Caroni - as an age of innocence was nearing its own death.

Fascinating that, as an uncommon man, he bore the weight of the absolute trilogy of personalities, the father son and holy ghost, and that he lived and died on a hill

Replies to This Discussion

Dalton, that's a fascinating story.I must say it has captured some of the traits of Rudolph Charles.I knew Rudolph during my time as Captain of Trinidad All Stars, 1970- 1977. I had a few encounters with him. He was a leader that I truly admired, in so much, that I emulated some of his leadership style and added it to the unique leadership style of Neville Jules.These two styles added with my own helped with the continuing development of Trinidad All Stars.When Neville Jules left Trinidad I was very young and taking over as Captain of Trinidad All Stars was surly a great Challenge.I was born on Laventille Road and Desperadoes was the band that I knew from childhood. I always admired them, therefore it would be quite natural for me to develop a soft spot in my heart for the band and it's leader.Rudolph was a great leader.Now this maybe difficult for some people to understand, but some of the successes of Trinidad All Stars can be traced to the admiration I had for Rudolph Charles as a leader. Remember I mentioned that I emulated some of his style.His every move was to have Desperadoes at the top at all times. My time as leader of my band was to do the same for Trinidad All Stars.

Glad you wrote. You were an honorable captain, for sure. I was born next door to the Charles family. He always chided me for sidestepping his band, Desperadoes, for Trinidad All Stars. He would do so even when Despers won the Panorama, and, with my mike in his face, he would hop around and, boldface so, chime:

"you think this is that shit band you play for down Charlotte Street.

And that would be the end of Panorama, the head of TTT calling for a shut down, and warning me never to allow that to happen again. I told him that Rudolph wasn't well, since a driver drove his car over Rudolph's leg.

No problem, I'm into my second draft of my screenplay, Butterfly Weed, based on my experiences in Viet Nam. Hollywood is pushing me to complete the final draft. But I've been seriously ill since I left NAM, never mind that VA doctors have been trying to make me whole again. I'll send producers the final draft when I'm good and ready. Every single beat should be perfect, and that's how I'm writing.